Manifold system for enabling a distribution of fluids

ABSTRACT

A manifold system for incorporation in a gas panel distribution system for semi-conductor manufacturing includes a plurality of individual manifold blocks with each manifold block having a fluid passageway with an entrance and exit port accessing a common surface. Adjacent manifold blocks are removably interconnected to permit the respective fluid passageways to be in position for interconnection. A plurality of active components can be sealingly fastened to the individual manifold blocks to complete the interconnection of the respective fluid passageways. Each active component can bridge over a pair of adjacent individual manifold blocks and form with the individual manifold blocks an operative gas stick for delivering gas to a semiconductor tool. The individual manifold blocks can be identical in configuration and can include a first upper flange on one side and a second lower flange on an opposite side to enable an interlocking of adjacent manifold blocks.

This application is a continuation of §120 to U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 08/960,464, filed Oct. 29, 1997 entitled GAS PANEL, which is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/739,936,filed Oct. 30, 1996 entitled GAS PANEL.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention is directed to a manifold system for enabling adistribution of fluids and more particularly, to a modular manifoldsystem that is subjectively adaptable to semi-conductor processingequipment to enable a distribution of gases in a semi-conductormanufacturing environment.

2. Description of Related Art

Wafer fabrication facilities are commonly organized to include areas inwhich chemical vapor deposition, plasma deposition, plasma etching,sputtering and alike are carried out. In order to carry out theseprocesses, it is necessary for the tools and machines that are used forthe processes to be provided with a precise amount of processing gasesto enable the fabrication steps. These gases can be inert, reactive, orcan provide reactive species as desired by the particular manufacturingprocess.

For instance, in order to perform epitaxial deposition, silicontetrachloride has bubbled through it a carrier gas such as dry nitrogen,which then carries silicon tetrachloride vapor into an epitaxialdeposition chamber. In order to deposit a silicon oxide dielectriccoating, also known as a deposited oxide coating, silane (SiH₄) isflowed into the tool and oxygen is flowed into the tool where they reactto form (SiO₂) on the surface of the wafer. Plasma etching is carriedout by supplying carbon tetrachloride and sulfur hexafluoride to aplasma etcher tool. The compounds are ionized, to form reactive halogenspecies which then etch the silicon wafer. Silicon nitride may bedeposited by the reaction of dichliorosilane and ammonia in a tool. Itmay be appreciated that in each instance pure carrier gases or reactantgases must be supplied to the tool in contaminant-free, preciselymetered quantities.

In a typical wafer fabrication facility, the inert and reactant gasesare stored in tanks which may be located in the basement of the facilityand which are connected via piping or conduit to a valve manifold box.The tanks and the valve manifold box are considered to be part of thefacility level system. At the tool level, an overall tool system, suchas a plasma etcher or the like, includes a gas panel and the toolitself. The gas panel contained in the tool includes a plurality of gaspaths having connected therein active components such as manual valves,pneumatic valves, pressure regulators, pressure transducers, mass flowcontrollers, filters, purifiers and the like. All have the purpose ofdelivering precisely metered amounts of pure inert or reactant gas fromthe valve manifold box to the tool itself.

The gas panel is located in the cabinet with the tool and typicallyoccupies a relatively large amount of space, as each of the activedevices are plumbed into the gas panel, either through welding tubing tothe devices or combinations of welds and connectors such as VCRconnectors available from Cajon Corporation or the like.

Gas panels are relatively difficult to manufacture and hence expensive.In a combination VCR connector and welded tubing system, the individualcomponents are held on shimmed supports to provide alignment prior toconnections at VCR fittings. Misalignment at a VCR fitting can result inleakage.

In addition, it has been found that VCR fittings often tend to comeloose in transit and some gas panel manufacturers assume that the VCRfittings have loosened during transit, possibly admitting contaminantsto the system.

Welds are relatively expense to make in such systems but are typicallycarried out using a tungsten inert gas (TIG) system, having an orbitalwelding head to weld a tube stub and a tube together. The welding musttake place in an inert atmosphere, such as argon, and even then leads todeterioration of the surface finish within the tubes. One of theimportant characteristics of modern-day gas panel systems and gashandling systems is that the surfaces of the gas handling equipment thattend to have the gas or vapor contact them must be made as smooth andnonreactive as possible in order to reduce the number of nucleationsites and collection sites where contaminants may tend to deposit in thetube, leading to the formation of particulates or dust which couldcontaminate the wafers being processed.

Additional problems with conventional gas panels relate to the fact thata combination VCR and welded system of the type currently used todaytypically requires a significant amount of space between each of thecomponents so that during servicing the VCR connections can be accessedand opened. In addition, in order to remove an active component from acontemporary gas panel, many of the supports of the surroundingcomponents must be loosened so that the components can be spread out toallow removal of the active component under consideration.

Most wafer fabricators are aware that it is only a matter of time until,for instance, the silane lines in the gas panels are “dusted.” “Dusting”occurs when air leaks into an active silane line causing a pyrophoricreaction to take place yielding loose particulate silicon dioxide in thetube, thereby contaminating the line. Other lines also can becontaminated. For instance, those which carry chlorine gas used inetchers or which carry hydrogen chloride used in other reactions.Hydrogen chloride mixing with moisture present in the humidity of airproduces hydrochloric acid which etches the interior of the tube,roughening it and increasing the number of nucleation sites and thelikelihood that unwanted deposits would occur inside the tube. In bothof these cases, as well as in others, it would be necessary then to openthe particular line in the gas panel in order to clean it. In addition,individual component failures may require a line being opened in orderto clean it and is time consuming and expensive.

Examples of fluid distribution systems can be found in not only thesemi-conductor field but in other fields such as biochemical-relatedindustries. U.S. Pat. No. 5,653,259 discloses the use of a particularform of manifold block and valving system with a saw tooth design of acommon fluid passageway. U.S. Pat. No. 4,168,724 discloses a manifoldblock having a common conduit line that can be connected to appropriatevalve members.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,384,115 discloses the mounting of pneumatic logicsystems on a common manifold block. U.S. Pat. No. 4,181,141 discloses apneumatic control circuit that permits a sequential connection ofmodules by the use of cylindrical connector plugs.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,352,532 discloses a manifold system that can detachablycarry a plurality of pneumatically and electrically operated controlunits. Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 4,093,329 discloses a manifold assemblywith a plurality of property control units. U.S. Pat. No. 3,025,878,U.S. Pat. No. 4,921,072 and PCT publication No. WO 95/10001 are cited ofgeneral interest.

The prior art is still seeking to optimize the delivery of fluids suchas gas to semi-conductor manufacturing equipment and it is desirable toprovide surface mount gas delivery systems that will permit standardizedcomponent interfaces thereby obtaining an economy of scale.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is designed to provide a manifold system forenabling the distribution of fluids such as semi-conductor gases and toprovide an improved surface mount gas delivery system that will enable astandardization of the interface of active components. With standardizedcomponent interfaces, the production, distribution, and factory andfield inventories of gas delivery components can be minimized and itwill be possible to have an economy of scale while still permitting asubjective design to meet the demands of the customer.

The present invention provides a solution to the problems in the priorart by providing a plurality of individual manifold blocks with eachmanifold block having a fluid passageway with an entrance and exit portaccessing a common surface. The common surface can mount standardizeactive components such as mass flow controllers, pressure and flowmeasurement sensors, pressure regulators, gas dryers, filters,purifiers, valves, etc. with the common surface for each of therespective adjacent manifold blocks being maintained in a common planeto facilitate sealing requirements. The active components will bridge orextend across adjacent manifold blocks with the manifold blocks beingremovably interlocked to operatively permit the respective fluidpassageways to be positioned for a sealing interconnection. The manifoldblocks can be identical in configuration to ensure uniformity andprecise production control of mounting surfaces.

In a first embodiment of the manifold block, a central body portion cansupport a first upper flange and a second lower flange withcomplimentary configurations that are cantilevered from the central bodyportion. The size and position of the first upper flange and the secondlower flange are such to compliment each other so that when they areinterconnected by appropriate securement holes extending through therespective flanges, the common surface for their entrance and exit portswill be held in a common plane thereby ensuring an ease in sealing thepassageway. One of the ports will extend onto the upper flange and intothe central body of the manifold block. Self-aligning bore holes can bepositioned on the upper flange to match complimentary threaded bores ina lower flange of an adjacent manifold block. Accordingly, threadedscrews or bolts can self align and be used to interconnect adjacentmanifold blocks with a simple tool such as an Allen wrench.

In the first embodiment of the present invention, the respective upperand lower flanges serve to provide means for removably interlocking apair of adjacent manifold blocks. As a second alternative embodiment ofinterlocking a pair of adjacent manifold blocks, separate connectorplates can extend across or span manifold blocks to enable a modularmanifold system that can be subjectively designed to meet therequirements of the particular semi-conductor application. Theindividual manifold blocks are preferably identical although specialmounting features or additional fluid passageways can be provided forspecial applications.

A third embodiment of the present invention for providing aninterlocking includes a thin flat plate to extend beneath a pair ofadjacent manifold blocks and to lock them together with sufficientstrength to ensure that the common surface is maintained within a commonplane for sealing purposes.

As can be appreciated, each of the individual manifold blocks in eachembodiment can be anchored to a supporting surface if desired withappropriate bore holes extending there through to facilitate a removableconnection.

In the first preferred embodiment, the central body of the manifoldblock will be offset from adjacent manifold blocks to thereby not onlyaccommodate an active component member such as a mass flow controllerfor bridging across the respective manifold blocks but to also permitexterior gas flow to facilitate leak detection.

As can be appreciated, by providing a modular composite manifold system,standardized individual manifold blocks can be used with a standardizedfoot print for connection to the active components at each of therespective stations of a gas panel line. Thus, the composite manifoldblocks are arranged so that they receive gas, fluid or vapor at an inletand can pass the fluid along to a plurality of internal channels thatare sealed and connected to a plurality of active device receivingstations with the fluid ultimately being delivered to the semi-conductormanufacturing equipment.

The modular manifold system can be subjectively extended and willposition the body of each of the active components at substantiallyright angles to the face of the individual manifold blocks that will bealigned along a common plane. The active components can be easilyremoved for repair or replacement and can be attached to the manifoldblocks by a plurality of Allen-head bolts. The manifold system can beself-aligning with each of the manifold blocks being a repeatablemachine component which has been pre-fabricated. There is no necessityto provide welding connections or VCR tube connections since the activedevices can be directly supported on and connected to the individualmanifold blocks with appropriate seals.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The exact nature of this invention, as well as its objects andadvantages, will become readily apparent upon reference to the followingdetailed description when considered in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals designate likeparts throughout the figures thereof, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the presentinvention disclosing a plurality of manifold blocks mounted together asa composite manifold system;

FIG. 2 discloses the first embodiment with phantom lines disclosing theattachment holes and fluid passageways;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the manifold block of the firstembodiment;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a gas stick arrangement of the firstembodiment;

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the manifold system of thefirst embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the presentinvention disclosing active component parts mounted on interconnectmanifold blocks that are held together with connector plates;

FIG. 7 is an exploded view of the second embodiment disclosed in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a third embodiment of the present invention disclosing anexploded view of interconnect manifold blocks of alternativeconfigurations that can be held together by a series of connectorplates;

FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view of one of the manifold interconnectblocks of the third embodiment; and

FIG. 10 is a bottom plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 9.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following description is provided to enable any person skilled inthe art to make and use the invention and sets forth the best modescontemplated by the inventors of carrying out their invention. Variousmodifications, however, will remain readily apparent to those skilled inthe art, since the general principles of the present invention have beendefined herein specifically to provide an improved manifold system forenabling a distribution of fluids such as gases in the semi-conductorfield by utilizing modular manifold blocks that can be subjectivelyconfigured and interconnected to permit active components to beappropriately sealed for interconnection with the gas passageways.

Modern IC chip producers have improved the efficiency of their productsby processing more semi-conductors on wafers of a larger diameter suchas 300 mm size wafers. Such design goals have placed further demands onprocess tool makers to minimize any increase in the size and fabricationof equipment since workspace for the process tools is at a premium.There is also a desire to reduce the size of sub-systems and to increasetheir reliability to reduce down time.

Generally, a semi-conductor process tool is a self-contained unit thatcan handle all the operations involved in fabricating IC patterns andwafers. One of the many sub-systems is the gas delivery system. The gasdelivery system is critical to IC pattern development and must deliverclean and controlled gases in a reliable and maintainable manner. Whilethe gas delivery system takes up only 10% to 20% of a process tool'svolume, any reduction in its size is beneficial since it helps offsetthe necessary expansion of other components such as the process chamberwhich must be made larger to accommodate a 300 mm wafer. Gas deliverysystems based on gas sticks constructed in the form of channeledstainless steel blocks have been proposed such as U.S. patent Ser. No.08/739,936 for a Gas Panel filed on Oct. 30, 1996 by the presentassignee. This pending U.S. patent application is incorporated herein byreference.

The gas panel assembly embodying the present invention is easy tomanufacture in that each of the active devices is separately aligned. Ifmisalignment were to occur, for instance, between a pressure regulatorand the device receiving station on the surface of a pair of manifoldblocks, an adjacent valve mass flow controller or the like would not bepositioned out of alignment with the general manifolding structure as aresult thereof. Thus, any misalignment which may occur has beenuncoupled from neighboring stations through the use of the presentmanifolding system. Tolerance stack-up problems are also avoided by thesimultaneous ability of the manifold blocks to connect with and toregister with the active devices.

Each of the active devices which are connect to the manifold system maybe prefabricated in that they include a combination seal and screwcapture mechanism component, the seal including a keeper for holding theseal in alignment with the active device and the screws being heldcaptured by nylon split rings to hold the screws within the bores of theactive device mount. This allows for quick and easy assembly. The activedevices are seated upon edge seals at the active sites. The edge sealsdo not require extensive or fine surface preparation yet provide good,leak-free and contaminant-free joins at the gas flow inlets and outletsbetween the manifold system and the active devices. The seals are easilyremovable for replacement during repair. They include keepers forself-locating which is particularly helpful when replacing an activedevice on a manifold face in the field.

The inventive gas panel manifold system also allows an entiremanifolding assembly, or stick to have applied thereto heated tape orother types of heaters in order to heat all of the manifold boresextending among the active device components and maintain a low vaporpressure gas or vapor in a vapor state throughout each of the processgas lines of the system.

The inventive gas panel manifolding system allows the gas panel to beeasily reconfigured by a user in the field as welds and VCR connectionsneed not be broken. An active device may be replaced or added simply bylifting it out of connection with an active device site and a new oneconnected thereto.

A pair of nitrogen purge inlets can be provided, both at the upstreamand the downstream end of the manifold system so that should it benecessary to remove an active device from the manifold system, drynitrogen can be blown both backward and forward through the manifoldsystem. Dry, clean nitrogen would exit at both the exposed inlet andoutlet ports of the active device site and contamination of the rest ofthe manifold system during the course of the changing of the activedevice site can be eliminated.

The advantages of the earlier work is carried forward herewith such thata 316 L stainless steel is used for the individual manifold blocks andthe internal channels which are drilled in the stainless steel blockshave been passivated with chromium oxide to minimize specialty gascorrosion. The in and out ports of each component are positioned tomatch the manifold blocks internal v-shape channel configuration. Thisenables internal connections of neighboring components to complete theflow path through the gas stick and eliminates the necessity of makingspace for tubing and fittings. Thus, a design goal of achieving a sizeof gas panel that is decreased by as much as 50% from conventionalwelded systems is realized. The modular approach of manifold blocksstill allows direct access to each component with mounting and removingof active components requiring only a manual hand tool such as but notlimited to an Allen wrench. By providing direct access to activecomponents, it is possible to make repairs simply by removing only thedamaged active component thereby reducing down time. Because themanifold blocks are standardized, the design flexibility inherent inconventional welded systems is maintained since active components can beplaced anywhere on this gas stick. Seals are provided in the modularsystem, so then in the sealing process, both the active componentmounting interface and the manifold block incorporate machine glands,which comprise a malleable nickel seal or alternatively a stainlesssteel seal to produce a leak free system. During installation, the sealwill generally produce no particulates greater than 0.1 um, andparticles that may be produced can be typically purged out of the gassystem in less than a minute.

Referring to FIG. 1, a first embodiment of the present invention isdisclosed wherein a composite manifold assembly 2 can be mounted on anappropriate support surface by combining individual manifold blocks toform an operative system. As disclosed, each of the three manifoldblocks 4 are identical and are formed from a stainless steel materialsuch as 316L stainless steel. V-shaped gas passageways are provided ineach of the manifold blocks and as shown in FIG. 1, have access portspositioned on a common upper surface 38. For ease of description, theflow path will be considered to extend from left to right although itcould just as easily be reversed and, accordingly, the entrance port 6is shown on the upper surface 38 along with an exit port 8. The entranceport 6 is partially on an upper flange member 10 which is cantileveredfrom a central manifold body portion 12. A lower flange member 14 isdimensioned to have a complimentary configuration to match the upperflange member 10 of the immediately adjacent manifold block. As will besubsequently described, an active component not shown in FIG. 1, willbridge across an entrance port 6 on one manifold block 4 to an exit port8 on the adjacent manifold block 4. The upper flange member 10 is offsetfrom the central manifold body portion 12 by a gap of approximately 0.2inches with the distance between the center point of the respectiveentrance port and exit port being approximately ½ inch. This gap beneathan active component can facilitate the detection of any gas leakage ascan be appreciated by a person skilled in his field. While not shown inany of the drawings of the present application, the gas stick can bemounted in a sealed housing for safety purposes and to control thepurging of any leaking gases from the gas delivery system.

Referring to FIG. 2, the V-shaped gas passage between an entrance port 6and an exit port 8 can be seen in the phantom lines. A pair ofappropriate bore holes 16 and 18 on an upper flange member 10 have alower beveled surface to enable a self-aligning of any bolt fasteners.The respective bores 16 and 18 appropriately align with threadedapertures 20 and 22 on the lower flange member 14 of an adjacentmanifold block.

A pair of threaded bores 24 and 26 and 28 and 29 are provided on eachperimeter side to enable the fastening of a flange on an activecomponent as can be seen in FIG. 4 and 5. Finally, a pair of recesses 30and 32 on opposite sides are also provided to accommodate any protrusionof screws for fastening a keeper member to the bottom of an activecomponent. The bore opening 16 and 18 have sufficient depth that when anappropriate fastener is sealed, there is still sufficient vertical roomabove a fastener to accommodate the protruding head of any fasteningscrew or bolt associated with the keeper member.

Again, as seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, through holes 34 and 36 are provided oneither side of the lower flange members 14 to thereby accommodate afastener 31 for attachment to a lower support surface 7. The upperflange member 10 are appropriately tapered or cut to facilitate access,for example, by an Allen wrench, to any such fasteners 31.

As can be appreciated, the first embodiment of the present inventionutilizes a plurality of manifold blocks 4 having specific upper flangemembers 10 and lower flange members 14 that are cantilevered from acentral manifold body portion 12 to enable the individual manifoldblocks to be interconnected to accommodate a specific fluid distributionsystem. Each of the manifold blocks 4 have a fluid passageway with anentrance port 6 and an exit port 8 that access a common upper surface38. The dimensions of the upper flange member 10 and the lower flangemember 14 are such that they extend across each other and therebyprovide means for removably interlocking a pair of adjacent manifoldblocks 4 to operatively permit their respective fluid passageways to bepositioned for interconnection.

Referring to FIG. 3, a cross-section view taken along a centrallongitudinal line extending from an entrance port 6 to an exit port 8 isshown for an alternative manifold block 40 that can be used as an endpiece in the manifold block system. This end piece manifold block 40 canalso interface with a dual lower flange manifold block 42 in the gasstick shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. As shown, a series of three identicalmanifold blocks 4 are stacked from the dual lower flange manifold 42 andterminate in a junction end piece 44.

The junction end piece manifold block 44 basically discloses apassageway of T-configuration wherein the entrance port 46 is fluidlyconnected with a pair of exit ports 48 and 50 on either side of themanifold block 44. Equivalent holes and bores are included to enable anextension of the gas stick system at right angles to the longitudinalaxis of the gas stick system shown in FIG. 4.

As shown in FIG. 5, a tube coupler 52 is mounted on top of the end piece40 manifold block with a keeper member 54 supporting an appropriate seal56 and a pair of split ring plastic retainers 58. A pair of threadedbolts 60 and 62 can interlock the end piece manifold block 40 to thedual lower flange manifold block 42. The seal is accomplished by simplytightening the respective threaded bolts 66. Screws or fasteners 64 canhold the keeper member 54 with the seal member 56 and split ringretainers 58 in place to the bottom of the tube coupler 52. The pair ofbolts 66 secure the tube coupler 52 to the surface of the end piecemanifold block 40 in alignment with the entrance port 68.

A similar arrangement is provided with regards to each of the activecomponents such as the valve assemblies 70 and 72. Appropriate keepermembers 74 and 76 support seals 78 and 80 and split ring retainers 82and 84.

Bolts 86 are used to fasten the flanges 88 and 90 on the respectiveactive components 70 and 72 to the upper surface of the end piecemanifold block 40, the dual lower flange manifold block 42 and amanifold block 4. Thus, the active component 70 is mounted immediatelyadjacent to the tube coupler 52 which in turn can be connected to anappropriate gas line (not shown) while the active component 72 bridgesthe upper surface of the dual lower flange manifold block 42 and theadjacent manifold block 4 as shown in FIG. 4.

An alternative embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 6and 7. In this embodiment, connector plates 92 are individually providedto extend across the lower surface of individual manifold blocks 94.Again, each of the individual blocks 94 are identical and have theappropriate gas passageway and threaded bores and bore openings asdescribed with regards to the manifold block 4. Active components 96 and98 can be mounted on the common upper surface of the respective manifoldblocks 94 within an appropriate seal keepers 100 and seals 102 aspreviously described with regards to the first embodiment. The comers ofeach of the connector plates 92 are appropriately notched or recessed104 with an appropriate bore 106 at each of the corners. A fastener bolt108 can extend upward for a threading engagement with a threaded bore(not shown) on the bottom of each of the manifold blocks 94. Thethickness of the connector plates 92 and the vertical dimension of thenotches 104 are such to permit the heads of the fasteners to be locatedwithin the notches.

In the second embodiment, the connector plates 92 can be identicallymanufactured and will provide sufficient strength when they bridge orcross over beneath each of the manifold blocks 94 to hold the commonsurfaces of the collective manifolds blocks 94 in a common plane.

Thus, in the second embodiment, the means for removably interlocking apair of adjacent manifold blocks 94 to operatively permit theirrespective fluid passageways to be positioned for interconnection withan active component part is accomplished as a result of the identicalconnector plates 92.

A third embodiment of the present invention is disclosed in FIGS. 8, 9and 10. FIG. 9 discloses a cross-sectional view of a manifold block 110.A plan view of the bottom side of the manifold block 110 is shown inFIG. 10 wherein a central rib member 112 accommodates the V-gaspassageway. The connector plates 114 are appropriately notched 116 ateach side of the connector plate 114 to thereby accommodate the ribprojection 112. As shown in the exploded view of the gas stick in FIG.8, a plurality of different manifold blocks can be used in this systemstarting with the L-shaped end manifold block 116, the subsequentadjacent manifold blocks 110, the T-shaped manifold block 118 andterminating with another end manifold block 116. Appropriate fastenerbolts can be used to join the individual manifold blocks to theappropriate connector plates as previously described with appropriatekeepers and seals.

As can be appreciated, each of the manifold blocks will have an entranceand exit port for accessing a common surface although the individualmanifold blocks can be varied in shape. The means for removablyinterlocking a pair of adjacent manifold blocks to operatively permitthe respective fluid passageways to be positioned for interconnection ona common surface can be provided by the connector plates 114 and thespacer connector plate 120.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various adaptations andmodifications of the just-described preferred embodiments can beconfigured without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.Therefore, it is to be understood that, within the scope of the appendedclaims, the invention may be practiced other than as specificallydescribed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A manifold system for enabling a distribution offluids, comprising: a plurality of individual manifold blocks, eachmanifold block having a fluid passageway with an entrance and exit portaccessing a common surface, and means for removably interlocking a pairof adjacent manifold blocks to operatively permit their respective fluidpassageways to be positioned for interconnection; wherein each manifoldblock has an upper flange on one side and a lower flange on an oppositeside to enable an interlocking of adjacent manifold blocks, and whereinone of the entrance and exit ports of at least one manifold block of theplurality of manifold blocks extends onto the upper flange of the atleast one manifold block.
 2. The manifold system of claim 1, furthercomprising an active component wherein the active component bridges twoadjacent manifold blocks.
 3. The manifold system of claim 2, wherein theactive component is a valve assembly.